The Solothurn Film Festival stands as the second oldest film festival in Switzerland, set to celebrate its 60th edition in 2025. Drawing over 65,000 admissions, this event serves as a pivotal showcase of Swiss cinema, asserting its position as one of the country’s most influential cultural gatherings. Presenting the latest in Swiss filmmaking, the festival is complemented by meticulously curated supporting programs. Serving as an ideal rendezvous point for an international audience of industry professionals, the Solothurn Film Festival provides a platform to explore the diverse landscape of Swiss filmmaking.
Goes to Cannes
Projects
Goes to Cannes
Al Baseer – The Blind Ferryman
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Ali Al-Fatlawi
Produced by: Samir, Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktin (Switzerland) Ali Al-Fatlawi, Karada Films (Iraq)
Country of production: Switzerland, Iraq, Qatar
Original title: Al Baseer – Der blinde Fährmann
Language: Arabic
Runtime: 100
The blind ferryman Ayoub lives in the endless Iraqi Marshes. One night he falls in love with a mysterious woman. But no one believes that she is real, so he has to prove that his love exists.
Goes to Cannes
Don’t Let The Sun (Catch You Crying)
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Jacqueline Zünd
Produced by: Producers: Louis Mataré, David Fonjallaz; Production company: Lomotion; Co-producers: Davide Pagano, Andrea Randazzo, Gianfilippo Pedote; Co-production company: Casa delle Visioni
Country of production: Switzerland, Italy
Original title: Don't Let The Sun (Catch You Crying)
Language: English
Runtime: 97
In a world almost like ours, Jonah works for an agency that offers human relationships. When he’s hired to serve as Nika’s father, he begins to lose control of his tightly controlled life. A delicately dystopian drama set in a place of unbearable heat, where people are desperate for human warmth.
Goes to Cannes
The Exposure
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Thomas Imbach
Produced by: Thomas Imbach; Andrea Staka; Okofilm Productions, Zurich; Dan Wechsler; Prestige Films, London
Country of production: Switzerland/United Kingdom
Language: German
“Never will I sell myself. I’ll give myself away.” Lili, daughter of a gambling lawyer, is torn between family ruin and personal disgrace.
Goes to Cannes
The Laundry
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Zamo Mkhwanazi
Produced by: Philippe Coeytaux - AKKA Films / Zamo Mkhwanazi - KUDE Media / Jim Stark
Country of production: Switzerland – South Africa
Original title: Uhlanjululo
Language: Zulu , Afrikaans and English
Runtime: 100'
South Africa 1968. Khuthala hates the family-owned laundry. But as the apartheid government cracks down on Black business ownership, Khuthala is torn between chasing his music dreams and fighting the injustice that threatens the business that is the sole means of support and glue of his family.
Goes to Cannes
Do you Believe in Angels, Mr. Drowak? (Working Title)
Category: Solothurn Goes to Cannes
Directed by: Nicolas Steiner
Produced by: Pascal Nothdurft & Marc Müller-Kaldenberg; Zieglerfilm Baden-Baden (Germany); Katrin Renz tellfilm (Switzerland)
Country of production: Germany & Switzerland
Original title: Sie glauben an Engel, Herr Drowak? (working title)
Language: German
Runtime: 110'
Welcome to the grim world of Hugo Drowak. A misanthrope, boozer, and stinking old good-for-nothing. We invite you on a fanciful journey replete with romance, gloom, and poetry. A story about longing. Starring Luna Wedler, Karl Markovics, Lars Eidinger, Dominique Pinon, Jan Bülow